This volume by Murray Harris is one of the most respected in the well-known New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC) series. Its success arises from its masterful exegesis, its scholarly clarity, and its warmth. Along the way, you will have one of the most conservative entries in the series as well. Having already written a helpful commentary II Corinthians in the EBC series aimed at pastors, Harris flexed his scholarly muscles in producing this meticulous, yet clear technical commentary.

Harris provides a massive bibliography running 100 pages. He begins the Introduction by digging into the literary issues of II Corinthians. I appreciated that on page 1 he wasted no time in saying, “one of the areas in which there is consensus among NT scholars is that Paul was the author of 2 Corinthians….” Quickly he segues into where the strongest debate concerning this book always happens – how it fits with I Corinthians. He explains what he calls “the severe letter”. He works through all the main possibilities before he begins defending the integrity of II Corinthians. There’s debate also about some of the passages and if they possibly come from a different hand than Paul. Again, these passages are covered from every possible angle and he is quite open to conservative solutions.

He also tackles the occasion, purpose, and outcome of the book. From there, he comes back at the book with a view to explain historical issues. In doing so he will review the date, Paul’s opponents, and the collection for Jerusalem. He works with care in producing a chronology before he dives into discussions about structure. There’s also some good discussion of theology in the book, which you will also find in the commentary itself.

The commentary proper is over 800 pages on the text. It is in perusing these pages that you will see that Harris lives up to the reputation that has attached to this book. As with most volumes in this series, the English translation of the Greek presented is nearby and fairly easy to follow even for non-Greek readers.

This volume is easily the best we have on the more technical side for II Corinthians today. Don’t miss it.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.